In addition to his testimony about President Trump and the Russia investigation, former FBI Director James Comey testified on the suspicious actions of Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Thursday. Comey recalled how Lynch told him to refer to the Clinton e-mail investigation as something other than what it was. “I want to know, was she going to authorize us to confirm we had an investigation? And she said “yes, but don't call it that. Call it a ‘matter,’” he told the Senate Intelligence Committee. When it came to the coverage from the Big Three Networks, ABC ignored it while CBS and NBC stepped in.
According to Comey, Lynch’s pushing didn’t stop with her request. “And I said, "Why would I do that?" And she said, ‘Just call it a 'matter.’’ And again, you look back in hindsight, and you think should I have resisted harder,” he explained.
“And that concerned me because that language tracked the way the [Clinton] campaign was talking about the FBI's work, and that-- that's concerning,” Comey continued. He added that “as I said before the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we had an investigation open at the time and so that gave me a queasy feeling.”
While ABC didn’t mention Comey’s testimony regarding Lynch, the two other networks in the Big Three stepped in on her behalf and took her word over his.
“In his testimony today, James Comey claimed that the Obama administration, Attorney General Loretta lynch, let politics influence the FBI's description of its investigation of Hillary Clinton's classified emails,” mentioned Anchor Scott Pelley near the end of CBS Evening News, where they buried the story in a brief. “Former Attorney General Lynch let it be known today that she chose the word ‘matter’ because she didn't want to confirm or deny an ongoing investigation.”
At least on NBC Nightly News, Chief White House Correspondent Hallie Jackson mentioned that Lynch drew scrutiny after a clandestine tarmac meeting she had with former President Bill Clinton. “His concerns linger about the past administration too and then Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed by President Obama,” Jackson noted in a small part of a much larger report. But she too seemed comfortable with Lynch’s excuse for pushing the term “matter:”
A person familiar with those discussions tells NBC, Lynch used the word ‘matter’ to make sure she didn't confirm or deny an investigation and wanted to stay consistent with Comey who never said at the time he wasn't comfortable with it.
This isn’t the first time the networks have spun Lynch’s dealings with the Clinton campaign either. Almost a year prior to Comey’s testimony on June 30, CBS This Morning co-host Charlie Rose claimed the Lynch/Clinton meeting was “innocent.” “The former President and a meeting with Loretta Lynch which seems on the face of it, simply to be an innocent meeting of two politicians saying hello,” he said that the time.
It took ABC and NBC almost 24 hours to finally cover the secret meeting after the news first broke. “Aides to Bill Clinton and Lynch say it was a chance meeting, and they were simply exchanging pleasantries,” reported ABC’s Tom Llamas on July 1. “The conversation, she insists, all personal, no business.” And on NBC, Clinton super-fan Andrea Mitchell blamed the weather, saying: “It's 108 degrees, so they board her air-conditioned government plane along with her husband and visit for 30 minutes.”
The ease in which CBS and NBC went to bat for Lynch in refuting Comey’s testimony shows their bias against Trump. When Trump’s lawyer tried to refute Comey’s testimony, they covered the statements with an almost deep-seated contempt and painted it as Trump desperately throwing out excuses.
Transcripts below:
CBS Evening News
June 8, 2017
6:52:42 PM EasternSCOTT PELLEY: In his testimony today, James Comey claimed that the Obama administration, Attorney General Loretta lynch, let politics influence the FBI's description of its investigation of Hillary Clinton's classified emails.
JAMES COMEY: I want to know, was she going to authorize us to confirm we had an investigation? And she said “yes, but don't call it that. Call it a ‘matter.’” And I said, "Why would I do that?" And she said, "Just call it a 'matter.’" And again, you look back in hindsight, and you think should I have resisted harder? I just said “alright,” this isn't a hill worth dying on. And I said “Okay, the press is going to completely ignore it.” And that's what happened. When I said “we’ve opened a matter, they all reported the FBI has an investigation open. And that concerned me because that language tracked the way the campaign was talking about the FBI's work, and that-- that's concerning.
PELLEY: Former Attorney General Lynch let it be known today that she chose the word "matter" because she didn't want to confirm or deny an ongoing investigation.
...
NBC Nightly News
June 8, 2017
7:04:34 PM Eastern(…)
HALLIE JACKSON: His concerns linger about the past administration too and then Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed by President Obama. She met Bill Clinton on a tarmac when the FBI was looking at Hillary Clinton and asked Comey to call that inquiry “a matter,” not an investigation.
JAMES COMEY: As I said before the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we had an investigation open at the time and so that gave me a queasy feeling.
JACKSON: A person familiar with those discussions tells NBC, Lynch used the word ‘matter’ to make sure she didn't confirm or deny an investigation and wanted to stay consistent with Comey who never said at the time he wasn't comfortable with it.
(…)
